Nagaland govt employee abducted by Manipur people from border

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A Nagaland government employee was manhandled and abducted by people of neighbouring Manipur from a disputed border area following an altercation over cutting of firewood, the Nagaland assembly was informed on Tuesday. The employee, a ‘dobashi’ (interpreter) by post, was taken away by the residents of Tungjoy village in Manipur’s Sepanati district at around noon on Monday and he was released late at night following intervention of the governments of the two states, Nagaland Deputy Chief Minister in-charge of Home, Y Patton, said.

Patton made the statement after opposition Naga People’s Front (NPF) MLA Chotisuh Sazo raised at the Zero Hour the issue of the dobashi’s abduction near Khezhakeno village in Chida area of Phek district. Sazo also asked the government about measures taken by it to settle the boundary dispute between the two states.

He said that around two years ago, a group of people from Tungjoy village had burnt down structures erected for a proposed visit of the Nagaland governor to a lake in the same area. The deputy chief minister said that around 150-200 people of Khezhakeno village of Nagaland went to Kahuzo forest area in Tungjoy to get firewood on February 12 and when a policeman of Manipur reached the spot and tried to stop them, they did not recognise his authority.

On Monday, 500 odd people of Tungjoy came to Nagaland side and started cutting firewood, and when policemen and the dobashi went there, the mob overpowered them, Patton said. They took the dobashi with them while returning and he was released at around 11.30 pm after the chief secretary and the director general of police of both the states discussed the issue, Patton informed the assembly.

An FIR is being registered by the superintendent of police of Phek district, he said. The SP has been directed to make an enquiry into the incident and submit a report to the Police Headquarters, the deputy CM said.

Meanwhile, the Nagaland Assembly on Tuesday passed the Nagaland Goods and Services Tax (Fourth Amendment) Bill, 2020, by voice vote. Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio introduced the Bill on February 15.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) was implemented in Nagaland on 1 July, 2017. The Centre has amended the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 last year and requested state governments to make corresponding amendments to their respective Acts, Rio said.

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